Chris Foss concept art for Dune, with bonus Nostromo. The images were produced for Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1974 attempt at filming the story, with other artists involved including Moebius and HR Giger. Though the project failed Jodorowsky collaborated further with Moebius to lay the groundwork for his own Dune-like comicbook universe (and a trailer for an animated version of it was even created). More visions of Arrakis can be seen on this page of Dune cover artwork through the ages, with bonus midi Toto.
posted by Artw on Nov 20, 2009 - 97 comments

You Dropped A Bomb On Me, Wormy
posted by tr33hggr on Aug 21, 2009 - 22 comments

For generations, anglers have performed worm grunting (a.k.a. charming, fiddling, snoring, rubbing, or calling) to entice worms out of the ground. Worm grunting even has its very own annual festival. After accompanying Grunting King Gary Revell Vanderbilt neurobiologist Kenneth Catania has explained why scraping a "stob" or twanging a pitchfork brings the worms a-callin'. [more inside]
posted by mudpuppie on Jun 16, 2009 - 19 comments

The Insect Close-ups Flickr Pool is full of fascinating pictures. There are all kinds of wonderful images to be found, of spiders, ladybugs, hornets, aphids, grasshoppers, worms, water striders and those superstars of the insect world, bees and butterflies. You can also search a map for pictures by location. If you want to take your own bug photographer Mark Plonsky has written a short how-to guide. He has taken some pretty great photographs of insects himself.
posted by Kattullus on Nov 21, 2008 - 14 comments

Worms in your fresh fish? We've heard about them in sushi for years, but stories are on the rise of creeping condiments from supermarkets. The FAO says they're actually not uncommon though "worms are unsightly and consumers naturally object to their presence". One theory holds that they're on the rise due to cost-driven onshore processing. Icked-out consumers have been posting videos on YouTube 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, while others have sought solace in discussion forums. But the good news? Cook thoroughly and you'll be safe. Me, I'll be sticking to enchiladas.
posted by crapmatic on Oct 2, 2008 - 71 comments

About 15% of the average American's household waste is compostable. Even apartment dwellers can turn their potato peelings and coffee grounds into gorgeous, nutrient-rich plant food with the help of worms. You can even buy the little dudes online! Once you have your worm farm set up, the big question is "Can I compost this?" You may be surprised at how often the answer is, "Yes!"
posted by freshwater_pr0n on Oct 27, 2007 - 48 comments

Listen to the creepy frog puppet & you too will avoid intestinal worms. Why did I post this? Because I care about you. Yeah, you're welcome. Previously.
posted by miss lynnster on May 2, 2007 - 36 comments

Lymphatic filariasis (or, more dramatically, "elephantiasis") is spread by mosquitoes. The mosquitoes transmit worms to your blood, the worms mate while you sleep, and their progeny travel to your lymph nodes to live a happy life. Unfortunately for you, the worms can get too big, allowing fluid to collect in your limbs or scrotum. Lucky for your neighbors, the disease can be controlled using salt. (China already did it).
posted by stemlot on Apr 28, 2006 - 9 comments

This video from the online New England Journal of Medicine of live parasitic worms scurrying around the inside of a patient's colon was not nearly as sexy as I thought it would be after reading the description. warning: link goes to nonsexy new england journal of medicine video of live parasitic worms scurrying around the inside of a patient's colon
posted by jonson on Apr 7, 2006 - 60 comments

Ascaris lumbricoides. According to estimates, about 1.5 billion people--about a quarter of the earth's population--are hosts to the Ascaris lumbricoides parasitic worm. Ascaris worms can grow to be 18 inches in length, and use their host's windpipe and esophagus to migrate between the small intestine and the lungs. A single human host may support dozen of large worms, which can be contracted by contact with fecal matter, animals, or undercooked pork. Under some circumstances (the worms dislike anesthesia, for example) one or more worms may exit from the mouth (a horrifying image), or the anus (one of the most disgusting images I have ever seen, and not safe for work, obviously). Here, the removal of a worm is caught on video (Realplayer). Too disgusting to post? Almost. But 1.5 billion people have got these in their bodies right now. That's what's grosser than gross.
posted by washburn on Mar 4, 2006 - 96 comments

I think I'll go eat...
posted by dilettante on Sep 26, 2005 - 16 comments

A widget of mass destruction (warning: clicking this link will install a widget) may be the answer to all those who have been fervently wishing or imagining that Mac users will soon experience the joys of viruses and worms... if, that is, you have taken the leap of faith to upgrade to OS X Tiger and can't get enough of Dashboard (last 2 are Quicktime video links). Konfabulator was the precursor -- there is a Windows version available (shareware).
posted by indices on May 8, 2005 - 49 comments

A worm that builds a home inside the human body, lives there happily until breeding time, then begins a journey to emerge from the skin and find a body of water to lay its eggs in. Although this may very well be a pleasant journey for the worm, for the human, it's an excrutiating one. And so we begin The Tale of the Guinea Worm.
posted by Space Coyote on Jun 14, 2004 - 9 comments

MMMMMMMMMmmmmmm, Banana Worm Bread....... Most of us would cringe at the thought of eating our six legged friends, but many cultures eat insects as a standard practice. Perhaps we should lighten up and give it a shot ourselves! If one is so inclined there are clubs to join and resources available. Chocolate Chirpie Cookies, anyone?
posted by elwoodwiles on Mar 21, 2004 - 14 comments

How much does a worm's soul weigh? Dr. Amrit Sorli thinks it's around 90 micrograms. "It appears that to determine the average weight of a worm's soul, Dr. Sorli only needs to divide 90 micrograms by the number of worms he murdered..." says James Randi (scroll down the Randi page until you see the worms)
posted by Fat Elvis on Jan 24, 2002 - 8 comments

Up to 20% of the internet vulnerable to a virus. There is a new Linux worm virus. Apparently, it steals passwords, installs and hides other hacking tools on infected systems, and then uses those systems to seek other servers to attack. Sys admins are advised to run a check on their servers and upgrade their BIND version.
posted by borgle on Mar 25, 2001 - 5 comments

So called Gnutella-worm.... So, I'm sure one or two of you have seen press coverage of the supposed spread of a set of vbs-worms, through the Gnutella community (Napster without a centralized server for those who don't know what it is). I have to agree with the Gnutella-folks statement, that this is more an exploit of windows and user-foolishness, than anything technically skilled. What's interesting to note is that it seems to be having a chilling effect...usually there's somewhere around 5,000 hosts, and 10 Terabytes of data online...today, there's barely 1100 hosts. I would have thought the average gnut-er was smarter than to fall for a vbs-worm.
posted by nomisxid on Jun 5, 2000 - 1 comment

Told ya so... Wrong guy. Thank god, I thought he was headed for the chair for sure.
posted by Dean_Paxton on May 9, 2000 - 1 comment